Monday February 3, 2014Sarvary Wants to Make Most of Time with Gators

Drew Sarvary played last season at Tyler (Texas) Junior College after a year at Florida A&M.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Transitioning into a new program is nothing new for offensive lineman Drew Sarvary.

Sarvary has been a man on the move for three years.

After playing his first three seasons of high school at North Florida Christian in Tallahassee, Sarvary transferred to Tallahassee Leon as a senior for an upgrade in competition. The move helped the under-recruited Sarvary earn a scholarship offer from hometown Florida A&M.

As a true freshman at FAMU in 2012, Sarvary played 11 games and made his first career start at Oklahoma. Still, the 6-foot-5, 309-pound Sarvary coveted more.

So after a season with the Rattlers, Sarvary transferred to Tyler (Texas) Junior College focused on earning a scholarship at a Division I school. In his only season at Tyler, Sarvary was named first-team All-Southwest Junior College Conference and drew interest from major college programs thanks to the increased exposure.

“I felt like it helped me a bunch,’’ Sarvary said of the move. “I learned a lot, improved my technique and faced a lot of players that are heading to SEC schools.”

Sarvary first committed to Texas Tech, but when an opportunity to join the Gators arrived, he jumped at the opportunity. Sarvary’s sister attends UF and turned his home in Tallahassee into one that roots for the Gators on Saturday rather than the hometown Seminoles.

“I’ve always heard her talk about them,’’ said Sarvary, who grew up without an allegiance to either school. “I’ve never been to a Florida game. By the time she got here, I was full swing in high school. And then I was at FAMU and out in Texas.”

Sarvary arrived at UF last month as one of nine early enrollees to join the program this spring. With two years of college already, Sarvary wants to use his experience as an advantage and get on the field as quickly as possible.

A few days after he joined the program, Florida coach Will Muschamp announced the addition of veteran offensive line coach Mike Summers to his staff.

Sarvary didn’t know much about Summers but a phone call from former Florida State and Alabama assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Ronnie Cottrell, now head coach at Tallahassee’s Godby High, got Sarvary even more excited about his latest stop.

“The day he got the job Coach Cottrell at Godby called,’’ Sarvary said. “He told me, ‘you’ve got a great coach coming in, one of the bet in the country.’ I’m pretty happy about that. He’s been in it for 30-plus years so he obviously knows what he is doing. If I can just learn a few things from him I’ll be good.”

Sarvary spent much of his freshman season at FAMU playing guard, and played tackle at Tyler. He said he feels comfortable at both positions. He just wants to play.

And when Sarvary straps on the pads and helmet, his philosophy in the trenches is simple.

“A good day in my books is just going out and making the defensive lineman tap out, beating them down physically and making them just not want to be there,’’ he said. “Making it most uncomfortable for them as possible would be a good day for me.”